# pipe poem by Johann Sebastian Bach



## mhailey (Dec 28, 2007)

_Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) is far more well known as a composer than a poet. But in fact he wrote some poetry, including this little ditty about pipe smoking._

*Edifying Thoughts of a Tobacco Smoker*

Whene're I take my pipe and stuff it
And smoke to pass the time away,
My thoughts as I sit there and puff it,
Dwell on a picture sad and grey:
It teaches me that very like
Am I myself unto my pipe.
Like me, this pipe so fragrant burning
Is made of naught but earth and clay;
To earth I too shall be returning.
It falls and, ere I'd think to say,
It breaks in two before my eyes;
In store for me a like fate lies.
No stain the pipe's hue yet doth darken;
It remains white. Thus do I know
That when to death's call I must harken
My body too, all pale will grow
To black beneath the sod 'twill turn.
Or when the pipe is fairly glowing,
Behold then, instantaniously,
The smoke off into thin air going,
Till naught but ash is left to see.
Man's frame likewise away will burn
And unto dust his body turn.
How oft it happens when one's smoking:
The stopper's missing from the shelf,
And one goes with one's finger poking
Into the bowl and burns oneself.
If in the pipe such pain doth dwell,
How hot must be the pains of Hell.
Thus o'er my pipe, in contemplation
Of such things, I can constantly
Indulge in fruitful meditation
And so, puffing contentedly,
On land, on sea, at home, abroad,
I smoke my pipe and worship God.

Johann Sebastian Bach

This poem touches me greatly. I had to share.

Matt


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## egontheviking (Sep 26, 2007)

I relate to this poem to a great degree. The final line is such a great conclusion. To praise the Lord in all one does, even when smoking.


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## McCharlie (Feb 21, 2008)

That's a good one.:tu


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## hagen (Jun 10, 2007)

i simply love the music of j.s. bach - but i had no idea that he wrote poems outside of a musical context. it is certainly a nice little poem, and very typical of its time and its author. 

wonder who translated it so competently to english.


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## Rmac58 (Dec 19, 2008)

Thanks for sharing, I also was unaware of J.S.B.'s poems.


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## mhailey (Dec 28, 2007)

I found it on the internet, and the source attributed it to him, and I had nothing to counter this assertion. I was taken back by the perfect translation into English, but I don't know if he was bilingual. maybe he wrote the poem in English, or maybe he did not write it at all.

http://ioannis.virtualcomposer2000.com/music/edifying.html

Matt


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## hagen (Jun 10, 2007)

okay, a little resarch reveals it to be "So oft ich meine Tabakspfeife", BWV515a from 1725. the german text is here: http://www.cs.ualberta.ca/~wfb/cantatas/515a.html

this link http://www.jsbach.org/bwv515a.html has a certain z. philip ambrose as the translator. a little more (but not much) about him here: http://www.uvm.edu/~classics/faculty/phil.html.

certainly a very fine translator!


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## dogsplayinpoker (Jan 23, 2007)

Now I don't feel so bad, waxing philosophical while I smoke. Opens the mind, clears the clutter! Thanks for the post.


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## mclayton (Dec 21, 2008)

Very cool!

I believe I also so this on that Briar Files blog? Nice work though, certainly neat to see a true artist in different realms, esp. when that realm features our little hobby.


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## mclayton (Dec 21, 2008)

dogsplayinpoker said:


> Now I don't feel so bad, waxing philosophical while I smoke. Opens the mind, clears the clutter! Thanks for the post.


That's the only way to do it mate!

Btw, your sig reminds me of this quote...



Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. said:


> "The life of the law has not been logic, but experience."


He was a legal realist, so he was a big fan of the law changing with society...because most of the time it will become "outdated", "old", etc etc. Anywho, just reminded me, same though process behind them lol


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## dogsplayinpoker (Jan 23, 2007)

mclayton said:


> That's the only way to do it mate!
> 
> Btw, your sig reminds me of this quote...
> 
> He was a legal realist, so he was a big fan of the law changing with society...because most of the time it will become "outdated", "old", etc etc. Anywho, just reminded me, same though process behind them lol


I agree with that idea with a few exceptions involving basic and primary rights. But there is a great deal of bad, stupid and outdated law out there.
I believe it is still legal in the state of SC to bring your wife to the court house steps on Sunday and beat her. My wife would not be a fan of that one:hn


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